The Cerro Colorado copper project is located in an extensive arid zone in the First Region of northern Chile, 120 kilometres east of the port of Iquique and 2600 meters above sea level. The operation began its productive life a decade ago in an area populated by an urban centre and small rural villages. We are aiming to establish a long-term, focused relationship with these communities, oriented towards developing the skills of the people. It is within this context that we implemented a community consultation and participation process to review investment projects that may have an impact upon our neighbouring communities and to identify and address concerns and issues.
The model for the consultation and participation process incorporates community relations’ considerations into all stages of investment projects, including design, approval, execution and commissioning. This process allows for the identification of any risks for nearby communities, or any impact upon them at all, and allows for appropriate control measures to be taken. Further, it promotes the direct participation of communities in any Company actions or decisions that involve them.
Coverage
The community consultation and participation process applies to the ten townships existing within Cerro Colorado’s area of influence and participating in our Community Relations Plan (CRP), which was implemented in May 2002.
These are all rural villages established in the high Andean plateaus and gullies, inhabited mainly by families of Aymara and Quechua origin who retain their original traditions and dialects. They are llama and alpaca herdsmen and practise small-scale agriculture, moving frequently among their villages of origin and urban centres.
Pozo Almonte is the communal capital where almost two-thirds of the inhabitants of the area of influence live. This township and the village of La Tirana are our only two neighbouring urban centres. They are located on an extensive plain, known as ‘pampa’, and their economies revolve around commerce and mining.
Methodology
The following are the three questions that our team must answer when they begin to plan an investment project. What are the changes we intend to bring about with this project? Whom may the changes impact? And how may they impact them? These questions are applied to all stages of an investment project, from design to commissioning. Our community relations team and engineering and project management offices, or the function acting as project leader, participate jointly in this questioning process.
Should there be a potential for impact on one or more communities, this factor is incorporated into the project’s general planning. A working plan to communicate and collaborate with the townships identified for participation and consultation is then prepared.
Given the geographic, social and cultural characteristics of these townships, the methodology the team uses is based mainly on engaging with the people through collective and individual meetings and interviews. During group gatherings, we encourage direct dialogue among all parties.
This process is supported by the collaboration that exists between the Company and our neighbours through the CRP. Every three months, Dialogue Table meetings are conducted, attended by the elected representatives of each township together with our community relations team. During those CRP meetings, the community representatives submit proposals to promote local development from a sustainable perspective, in order for them to be evaluated and funded.
Sigisfredo Moscoso is from the community of Cancosa and is in charge of a project to cultivate quinua (an Andean cereal crop), which the Company is supporting. He says, ‘This relationship with Cerro Colorado is good. It has allowed us to make some of our dreams real, which we could not have been able to do by ourselves. For example, (being provided with) a motor tractor to increase the quinua cultivation. I appreciate the transparency of the meetings; we evaluate each other, we see how we have advanced in our projects and how we have managed the resources. The consulting is good. On our side, people are now familiar with this type of collaboration’.
Significantly, each township defines and formulates its proposals through internal meetings with social organisations such as native communities, neighbourhood associations and sporting clubs. This approach facilitates the consultation and participation process.
Whenever risk factors are identified in a proposed investment project, these are incorporated into its design stage and prevention and control measures are defined. As part of the same work procedure, the stakeholder group is informed of these measures. If necessary, the measures are modified until community support is attained. Once approved by the community, they are incorporated into the project.
As the investment project’s design and execution proceed, the participation and consultation process requires us to maintain periodic communication with our stakeholder group in order to receive their feedback and, if applicable, to respond to any new concerns.
The overall objective of the consultation and participation process is that project development is based on collaborative engagement between the Company and our neighbouring communities, with a view to securing the sustainability of the Cerro Colorado operation and the communities.
Application
The largest Cerro Colorado investment project in recent years is an example of how the participation and consultation model is being applied. The project is a financing agreement with the Chilean Public Works Ministry’s regional administration for road improvements along the Duplijza slope. The investment is estimated at US$4.2 million.
The slope connects not only the mining site to the region’s main road, but also to the townships of Mamiña, Parca, Iquiuca and Quipisca, all located on the neighbouring gullies. The safety standard of the existing slope was poor, due mainly to its narrow unpaved layout, short-radius curves and unstable hillsides. For this reason, we decided to fund the road improvement project, to be carried out between April and December 2004.
During the first stage, the community relations and engineering and projects teams identified that the four townships would be the groups directly impacted by the works. Meetings were held with each of them, with the support of their respective representatives.
A number of concerns and petitions were gathered, such as for the protection of nearby rock carvings and a community mud oven, the environmental control of earth movement and blasting, the fitting out of an alternative road, and the authorised removal of two animitas (small religious altars) that are commonly erected on the roadside in memory of victims of traffic accidents. Further, through the Regional Tourism Administration, we were requested to evaluate the possibility of building two lookouts at the slope in order to promote tourism in the area, which has periodic influxes of visitors mainly attracted by Mamiña’s thermal waters and mud baths.
These requests were evaluated, approved and incorporated into the project’s design and the Environmental Impact Statement submitted to the relevant government authority.
The project subsequently obtained government authorisation and the support of the participating communities.
Since the beginning of the works, our community relations team has held meetings with representatives of the affected communities and Pozo Almonte. All other stakeholder communities are also being kept informed, through the quarterly Dialogue Table meetings. Additionally, information has been forwarded to the local authorities and tourism, transport and hospitality companies about vehicle transit restrictions during the work, and public announcements have been made in the local media.
Commenting on the Duplijza road improvement project, Patricio Zapata, Regional Intendent with the local government, says, ‘This is an outstanding agreement protocol, which we have been promoting as a government in relation to how we can make the contribution from a private company compatible with the needs of the community in which it is immersed, in terms of production and the creation of jobs. It is a good initiative, which we support completely. From the point of view of the number of communities involved, and their participation, it is innovative and provides a good model for other similar companies to apply’.
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